50-50 by 2005: Get the Balance Right!

Women Leaders From 10 Asia Pacific Countries Call for 50-50 Representation in Government In Manila Conference

Sixty women leaders from Government and Civil Society from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region issued a call to action for “Women in Government - 50-50 by 2005: Get the Balance Right!!” during a historic two-day conference organized by the Center for Legislative Development (CLD) on March 21-22, 2001 at the AIM Conference Center in Makati City, Philippines.

The 50-50 call is part of a global campaign demanding that governments work for “a provisional minimum target of 30% representation of women in cabinet ministries and legislatures as well as local authorities by 2003 and equal representation by 2005. The campaign aims to improve the status of women worldwide as they are grossly under-represented in the higher echelons of decision making at virtually every political level. Today, women are only 13% of national parliaments, a yearly increase of 0.5%. In the Asia Pacific region, women constitute 14% of parliaments. Women ministers remain at 14% and largely concentrated in social areas. Those holding legal (9.4%), economic, political and executive positions (less than 5%) remain dismally low.

According to keynote speaker, New York-based Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) Director for Gender and Governance Dr. Socorro Reyes, “… at a yearly annual rate of 5% increase, it will take 75 years before we attain gender gender equality in government. Our governments must act now by setting numerical targets to uphold and ensure women’s human rights.”

To attain the goal of 50-50, conference participants from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region: Australia, Bangladesh, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, and Thailand discussed strategies used in their respective contexts to increase the number of women in politics. The group also recommended the adoption of temporary special measures, including quotas to speed up the attainment of de facto gender equality. Julie Ballington of IDEA, Sweden, where women are 42.5% of Parliament, discussed why and how quotas contribute to increasing women’s political representation.

CLD’s partners for the conference were the Center for Asia Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP), UNIFEM, ESCAP, and UNDP-Asia Pacific Gender Equality Network.